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I'm an American expat, currently studying environmental policy and law in Finland. I started 80couches.com in 2011 to write about my experiences in the strange and wonderful world of Couchsurfing. You can contact me directly by email at 80couches@gmail.com

India

Preview: Originally written March 26, 2012

As the days in March dwindle, and winter slowly loses its grip on the Korean Peninsula, my impending trip to the Indian subcontinent looms larger and larger ahead. If I largely eschewed technology with my previous trip to the Philippines, I will not allow myself that luxury on this journey. Although disconnecting from the outside world made for a better vacation, I was far less prolific than I wanted to be, despite frequent journal scribblings. So I’ve decided to invest in a small notebook computer, and commit myself to writing on a daily basis throughout my trek.

This country has long been on my “Top 5 Destinations” list. Sixteen days feels woefully inadequate for a country with such amazing history and culture, but it’s a start. The trip was first proposed by my Danish friend Christine. I had just come home from a Saturday night out in Seoul, to find this message waiting for me on Facebook (with a margin of error of plus or minus one emoticon), “Hey – wanna go to India in April?”

My response, as inebriated as it might have been, was simple and to the point, “The short answer would be ‘Yes.’ The long answer would be ‘Hell yes.'” She, in turn, threatened to kill me if I was kidding.

This was not a tough decision: either a couple of weeks exploring India with one of my all-time favorite couchsurfers, or death? I had already chosen the former.

In planning this trip–and I use the term “planning” loosely–it seems that we have a very similar philosophy. We both want to have a place to stay in Delhi when we arrive, but try to keep things as negotiable as possible from that point on. So far, our itinerary reads, “Delhi, Agra, Pushkar? Khajuraho? Etc?” We’ve both had countless recommendations, almost all of them conflicting. So, we’ll take India as it comes, and see where the adventure takes us.

We’ve agreed that she’ll take the photos, and I’ll write. So far, so good.